The calculation attempts to show the full scale of taxpayer debts by including figures for unfunded liabilities like public-sector pensions and the state pension scheme as well as the cost of projects funded under the Private Finance Initiative.

Last year Bernie Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in jail for the world's biggest Ponzi scheme, as reported here in The Guardian , but his £38 billion scam may not hold the record for long.

A separate report by the Public Sector Pensions Commission says that public sector pensions will become a national 'Ponzi scheme' unless immediate action is taken.

The report said the total cost of unfunded schemes probably exceeds the £777 billion UK national debt of 2009/10. Check here for the full article from Citywire .